8 Anti-Prawer detainees released in Akka, 2 remain in detention

(Haifa, Israel) On Wednesday 17 July 2013, the Haifa District Court accepted an appeal in the cases of five demonstrators detained during anti-Prawer protests held in the Arab town of Sakhnin in northern Israel, but rejected the appeal in the case of two others. The court ordered the release of two of the detainees, Mr. Seif Khatib and Mr. Ahmed Hakroush, on Wednesday evening, and the release of Mr. Ahmed Hamdan, Mr. Yousef Diyab, and Mr. Ameer Abu Roumi on Thursday. The court ordered Mr. Mohannad Abdel Fattah and Mr. Tamer Hasri to remain in detention until Sunday, 21 July 2013. The Akka Magistrates’ Court also released three women demonstrators yesterday, 17 July 2013: Fathiyya Hussein (Adalah’s Office Manager), Thaira Zoabi, and Sabreen Diyab, as well as one minor and an additional detainee.

The lawyers emphasized in the appeal that the arrest of the protestors was illegal, and followed the illegal dispersion of a legal and peaceful demonstration, that did not require a permit. The protest began at 17:00 on 15 July, and at 18:00 the police ordered it to end. Just five minutes later, while a group of demonstrators had begun to leave the site, a large number of police officers swooped in, reinforced by mounted police, special forces, and secret police, sprayed the demonstrators with tear gas, and began to arrest some of them using excessive force, injuring demonstrators and detainees.

In the appeal, the lawyers sharply criticized the conduct of the judge of the Akka Magistrates’ Court during the extension-of-detention hearing. The judge limited each lawyer representing the protestors to just five minutes for questioning the police, and cut them off them at the end of this period. The judge also prevented the lawyers from questioning the police about their reasons for arresting the protestors, or about the alleged need for them to extend their detention. In addition, the judge refused to examine the signs of violence evident on the protestors’ bodies, which indicated the extent of the violence the police committed against them during both their arrest and later during their detention at the police station.

The appeal also stated that the court insisted on treating the demonstrators as a single group, refusing to look into the individual circumstances of each of their arrests, or the need for the extension of their individual detention, as required by law. The lawyers argued that merely accusing the detainees of committing a crime did not justify their continued detention. They emphasized that, “All the detainees are law-abiding persons with no criminal record, and it is possible to summon them to continue the investigation, if necessary, after they are released.” They were surprised at the court’s intransigence in refusing to consider alternatives to extending their detention.

For further details contact Adalah’s Media Director, Salah Mohsen: 052-5950922.

See also:

Footage from the July 15 demonstrations:  Beer el-Sabe  (video by Dukium) and  Sakhneen   (video by Rabeea Eid)

Press Releases:  District Court Appeal against Extension of Detention of Anti-Prawer Protestors in Sakhneen, 17 July 2013; and Updates on July 15 detainees, 16 July 2013

Information about the Prawer Plan on Adalah's "Stop Prawer" Campaign Page

Tha'ira Zuabi, Fathiyya Hussein (Adalah's Office Manager), and Sabreeb Diyab released from Akka Magistrates' Court, 17 July 2013 (Photo by Adalah)